The 2016 edition of the German Open, the ATP 500 tour stop in Hamburg, is the centerpiece event of the brief two-week addendum of the European clay season after the one-month grass season. While tennis is still played in Europe before the move to North America in August, clay events make a brief return following Wimbledon. Hamburg is the most important clay event in that small post-Wimbledon pocket of time, surrounded by some ATP 250 events in the second half of July. This used to be a Masters 1000 event but was downgraded when Madrid became a clay Masters event and Shanghai was created as a new fall hard court event.
The competition in the 32-player main draw begins on Monday, July 24.
Event Details
Event: German Open
Category: ATP World Tour – 500 Series
Date: July 24 – 30, 2017
Location: Tennisstadion Am Rothenbaum – Hamburg, Germany
With a prize money allotment of roughly 1.5 million Euros, the 500-point tournament falls short of other ATP 500 events in terms of its total purse. This is a function of being a 32-player event, whereas the following week’s ATP 500 tour stop in Washington, D.C., is a 48-player event. Why would this be a 32-player event while Washington is 48? Simple: After the grass season, the most important tournaments for the remainder of the season are on hardcourts. It is in the best interests of most players to shift to hardcourts after grass. Hamburg, though, is a clay tournament. It offers one last chance for clay-court specialists to grab points before the rest of the season moves solely to hardcourts. This is part of the two-week mid-July period after Wimbledon.
Points
Champion – 500
Runner-up – 300
Semifinal – 180
Quarterfinal – 90
Round of 16 – 45
Former Champions and Results (5 Years)
Year Champion Runner-up Score
2016 – Martin Klizan def. Pablo Cuevas – 6-1, 6-4
2015 – Rafael Nadal def. Fabio Fognini – 7-5, 7-5
2014 – Leonardo Mayer def. David Ferrer – 6-7, 6-1, 7-6
2013 – Fabio Fognini def. Federico Delbonis – 4-6, 7-6, 6-2
2012 – Juan Monaco def. Tommy Haas – 7-5, 6-4
Player Info:
The Swedish Open lost its number one seed in totally unfortunate manner as Pablo Carreno-Busta couldn’t finish his opening match in Bastad. The unseeded Andre Kuznetsov had a 3-0 lead in the third set when the Spaniard had to retire. Carreno-Busta paid a huge price for not serving out the match when it appeared it was in his bag at 5-3 in the second set.
Carreno-Busta next plays in Hamburg but given his health concerns, most observers won’t have him going deep in the bracket. He is 27-15 on the season with a record of 7-6 on the hard courts and 20-9 on clay.
Albert Ramos Vinolas has not only improved his game but has also added consistency over the last 14 months. What he’ll look to change is converting his semifinal results into title runs. The Spaniard has never won the tournament as big as Hamburg but he’ll look to put an end to that fact when the event starts next week.
For Pablo Cuevas, this season has been inconsistent. The injuries haven’t helped his cause either. He was the third seed in Bastad but couldn’t do justice to the ranking. Cuevas stunningly fell to world No. 100 Henri Laaksonen in straight sets. The worst part is that the Uruguayan fell apart after jumping to a 4-2 first-set lead, losing seven games in a row.
Cuevas made the finals in Hamburg last year so he is defending 300 points. He knows that another early loss would make him drop outside the top 35. Cuevas is just returning from injury so it would be unfair to judge his form. We all know about his clay court prowess and it wouldn’t be surprising if he goes one better this year.
Karen Khachanov is only 18-18 in 2017 but is currently holding a career-high ranking at No. 33 in the world. In the second round of Bastad, Khachanov took a scenic route against Ernests Gulbis but eased through the third set to make his fourth ATP quarterfinal this season. Khachanov’s best result this year came in Halle, where he made the semifinals.
Tennisstadion Am Rothenbaum
The Tennisstadion Am Rothenbaum, originally built in 1892 to host the long-running Hamburg event, was renovated in the late 1990s. It holds 13,200 seats, which is connected to the event’s history as a prestigious event once part of the Masters 1000 series.
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